Depending on who you listen to, it's time you replaced your laptops with PDA's; invested in Tablet PCs and smart phones; established a fixed point wireless network; and subscribed to a wireless mobile data service. If all that confuses you, relax you're not alone - and we're here to help.

Start at the start

Ok, from the beginning. If you presently use mobile phones and computing devices in business, you already know the benefits of mobility. What you may not be so sure of is how or why to use mobile devices over a wireless data network.

You need to know there are two main types of wireless data network; fixed point, which uses transmitters and receivers called 'stations' for coverage within defined areas; and mobile data which is the data side of a cellular phone network. Businesses that subscribe to a mobile data network can send and receive data using mobile devices from inside a moving vehicle or from another country, providing that vehicle or country is within the mobile data service area.

Faster and less expensive to use than mobile data networks, fixed point networks (often called wireless LANs and wireless WANs) are flexible in a different way. They can be established in just one building, or between Auckland and Wellington. If you plan to invest in new mobile devices and a mobile data network service, remember you may want to use a fixed point wireless network at some stage as well.

Giving mobile employees wireless access to information and applications held on private networks, web portals, or the public Internet can certainly improve workflow and productivity. But, there are a few things you need to know about mobile devices and mobile data services before you invest in hardware and infrastructure.

Which network?

Fixed Point: If  the nature of your business means you need to send very large files between offices, buildings or cities, then as high data speeds will be required, a fixed point wireless LAN or WAN is probably right for you. A service provider (Walker Wireless is an example) sets up 'hot spots' in your premises  enabling workers to remain in touch with their network connection, or at least access email and the web, as long as they're within the coverage area. For most that means freedom within the office but as WiFi nodes proliferate, that liberty is increasingly being offered beyond the workplace walls.

Mobile Data: If you need more mobility than this (in the car, on a building site etc), then a mobile data device connected to a mobile data network is your best option. There are currently only two mobile data network service providers in New Zealand; Telecom and Vodafone. Telecom's mobile data service is called CDMA 1XRTT (better known as Mobile Jetstream) and offers data transfer speeds of between 40 and 80Kbps. Vodafone's service is called GPRS and offers data transfer around 56Kbps - about the speed of a dial up modem. Factors like pricing plans and the range of compatible devices matter a lot when choosing between these networks. However, in general terms, Vodafone's GPRS service is more effective if you need to wirelessly send and receive data when overseas, and Telecom's Mobile Jetstream is faster nationally and better designed to carry data transfers in excess of a megabyte in size (photo's, spreadsheets, documents).

Gadgets, Gadgets, Gadgets

Mobile devices include laptops, PDA's (also called palmtops or handhelds) smart phones and data-capable mobile phones. The Tablet PC, an emerging mobile device with a touch sensitive handwriting tablet, handwriting recognition software and a keyboard, will also work with mobile data networks.

As a smart phone is a data-capable mobile phone integrated with a PDA, it can connect to a mobile data network by itself. For a laptop, Tablet, or PDA to connect to a mobile data network it first needs to be fitted with a data capable electronic card and software; a data-capable mobile phone with a cable, or a data-capable mobile phone with Bluetooth technology (Bluetooth-capable phones link wirelessly to mobile devices, bypassing the need for a cable.)

It helps to know what you should be looking for in terms of how suited the different types of device are to your mobile data needs. For example, if you want to use your PDA to send pictures, make sure the brand you choose includes, or can accommodate, a digital camera. If you want to make software applications available over a PDA, make sure its operating system, screen and keyboard allow the applications to be used properly.

PDA's come in many shapes and sizes and run different operating systems. The Palm OS is the most common PDA operating system, but Windows CE is gaining ground and the Symbian OS is holding its own. Laptops should additionally offer as much storage capacity and battery life as possible and will need  type II PCMCIA slots if you're using mobile data cards in them. If you want to use a Bluetooth mobile phone with each laptop, the laptop must also be Bluetooth-capable.

The future

Sean Casey, from Intel's Wireless and Computing Communications Division, says future mobile devices will be lighter, run longer and connect wirelessly as a matter of course. "PDA costs will come down," he says. Research firm Gartner Group backs his claim estimating the world-wide PDA market will grow 11% and PDA prices will drop 16% this year.

Gartner also predicts only 5% of mobile phone shipments will be smart phones, and adoption of the Tablet PC won't become main stream until 2005. IDC Research says the outlook for wireless data services is optimistic beyond 2004 when there will be a move from niche wireless data environments (such as those outlined in our following case studies) to wireless data becoming a mass market phenomenon. "Cellular providers need to leverage their major assets -subscribers, experience in roaming, complex billing, large footprints, and emerging technology to offer a wireless data everywhere experience and drive this market forward," says Gary Hong, research manager for IDC Asia Pacific.

A Users View

Four diverse companies explain which mobile solution they opted for - and why;

Ports of Auckland

What they do: Handle 43 per cent of New Zealand container trade; responsible for harbour planning and the management of ship movements.

Mobile data used for: Providing tug pilots with live extranet access to shipping information, ISO port procedures, and standard and customised applications.

Mobile devices: 12 Compaq iPaq PDA's, 2 Toshiba laptops

Mobile services: iPaq's: GPRS with Nokia mobile phones, Laptops; CDMA 1XRTT with GTrans data cards.

Comments from Row Robinson, business analyst, Ports of Auckland

On the Tablet PC: "It's attractive but expensive and there is an issue with size. We need devices which can be put in a pocket as employees board and disembark from ships."

On PDAs: "Compaq's iPAQ H3970 has Bluetooth technology. We like the size and performance of this PDA."

On Laptops: "We need them on the tugs to run standard operating systems, and to have more storage capacity and bigger screens than PDAs."

On GPRS and CDMA: "CDMA is faster and more seamless for transferring data, but we use GPRS with the PDA's because the speed difference is negligible and we want Bluetooth technology."

On Telecom and Vodafone: I think Telecom offers a technically better network, but Vodafone has superior customer service."

Downer Connect

What they do: Provide engineering design; construction and telecommunications plant maintenance services. Telecom NZ is a key customer.

Mobile data used for: Remote access to the company's LAN based WorkNET work management and dispatch system.

Mobile devices: 388 Toshiba laptops

Mobile services: CDMA 1XRTT with PCMCIA modem cards.

Comments from Laurie Boniface, CIO, Downer Connect.

On the Tablet PC: "We don't have a need for it."

On PDAs: "They're not able to cater for the demand we place on them. You can't pack enough information on the screen. Price is also still an issue."

On Laptops: "95 per cent use PCMCIA cards, the other five per cent used a CDMA 1XRTT capable phone with a cable. We've had no problems making our laptops mobile data capable."

On GPRS and CDMA: "We picked CDMA early on. Once you've picked a technology and invested in it, the cost to transfer to another service becomes prohibitive."

On Telecom and Vodafone: "We evaluated both the Telecom and Vodafone products and determined that the Telecom CDMA 1X fitted our business requirements the best.

Bloomz

What they do: Floriculture (flower) exporter focused on breeding, production and export of high health tissue culture plant stock, bulbs and tubers. BLOOMZ has relationships with wholesale customers and commercial growers in more than 30 countries.

Mobile data used for: Sending and receiving: email, SMS messages and pictures nationally and internationally.

Mobile devices: 4 Compaq laptops with PCMCIA cards, 2 Sony Ericsson PA800 smart phones with digital cameras and Bluetooth.

Mobile data services: GPRS

Comments from Andy Warren, managing director, Bloomz.

On the Tablet PC: "No observations as yet."

On PDA/Smart phones: "Our Sony Ericsson P800 smart phones do everything we need a mobile device to do. Among other things we use them for voice messaging and dictation, to send text messages and pictures of flowers.
The biggest issue with them is learning how to use all the features. They have a touch screen or keyboard, a roller wheel for scrolling, a jotter, a calculator and a camera.

On laptops: "We use laptops to send and receive larger emails and to work on A4 sized attachments. When I'm overseas, I open a laptop, press an icon and get the Vodafone digital dashboard. I can then see if I'm connected to the local GPRS system, and if I am I can use email or SMS or go straight on to the web.
But I can't walk around an international flower show and send quick information back to New Zealand from a laptop. I need the smart phone for that."

On GPRS and CDMA 1XRTT: We're export to 35 countries and so internationally, CDMA isn't right for us. Telecom's i-pass service [which allows CDMA 1XRTT customers to access their mobile data service by connecting to the Telecom NZ web site] is too slow."

On Telecom and Vodafone: I think [for international mobile data use] Vodafone has it over Telecom."

Amalgamated Food Distributors

What they do: Distribute frozen, fresh and dried food supplies to caterers, restaurants, garages, and dairies in Christchurch, Timaru and Dunedin. Eight representatives are on the road.

Mobile data used for: Giving mobile sales reps access to the main business network which holds SalesLink, an automated sales order application.

Mobile devices: 2  Kyocera 7134 Smart phones, 6 data capable Kyocera mobile phones, 8 Palm5 Palm Pilots

Mobile services: CDMA (Mobile Jetstream)

Comments from David Scurr, managing director


On the Tablet: "It's a new thing, and not developed enough for us yet. But I believe it will come into its own."

On PDAs: "Their size and portability makes them superior to laptops, and they're more robust. We've dropped a few and they're still okay.

On laptops: "Too big to take on the road."

On CDMA and GPRS: "We looked at GPRS but it wasn't going to work as well as CDMA for our mobile data needs. Mobile Jetstream and the PDAs have made us hugely cost effective. We've been able to take a staff member out of our office as a direct result."

On Telecom and Vodafone: "We have a good relationship with Telecom. Our experience of Vodafone is too limited to allow us to comment on them."

July 2003

By Vikki Bland